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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25163437">The Day John Broke</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anonymous6285/pseuds/Anonymous6285'>Anonymous6285</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Beatles (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Crying, Cynthia Lennon (Mentioned) - Freeform, Divorce, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Julian Lennon (Mentioned) - Freeform, breakdown - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 04:13:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,222</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25163437</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anonymous6285/pseuds/Anonymous6285</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The weight of his world finally comes crashing down on him...</p><p>Or</p><p>John has a mental breakdown on live television</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>John Lennon &amp; Paul McCartney</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Day John Broke</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>John had been acting strange all week, and he hadn’t told anybody what was going on, hadn’t really felt the need to. But his friends were getting worried, because something was definitely wrong with him.</p><p>They never brought it up. Not until the interview on Tuesday morning, where it became obvious that somebody had to. All four Beatles sat on a couch together. They were on live television, so there wasn’t much room for bickering. But they managed to get past that.</p><p>And the entire time, John just seemed to get more and more jumpy, hands constantly playing with something, and he kept his head down to hide the way his eyes got red. Paul could see, though. </p><p>“So, I’ve got an important question we should probably end on.” the show host said, and Paul nudged John to glance up, revealing his bright red face.</p><p>“What’s going on?” Brian mouthed to George, sitting on the other side of John as a single tear ran down his face, but the younger man ignored him. Then, it all seemed to happen so fast.</p><p>“What do you think is in store for you all in the future?” That’s what seemed to push the man over the edge, and he hid his face in his hands as a sob escaped his mouth. “Is everything alright, Mr. Lennon?”</p><p>Paul freaked and leaned down, a hand on his friend’s back. “John,” he whispered. “John, love, are you okay?”</p><p>John didn’t say a thing, and Brian had to really fight himself to not run on stage and check on the guitarist right then and there. He knew there were only a few minutes left on the show, and it would be over at the hour, but they still had six minutes. A lot could happen in six minutes. A lot would happen in six minutes at this rate, too.</p><p>“Johnny,” George said, but he didn’t know what was supposed to come after that.</p><p>“I want to leave.” John sobbed again, and Paul looked over to Brian worriedly. “Macca, when does it end?”</p><p>Brian only shook his head, telling Paul that if John didn’t stay on stage, they’d have to come back and do another show. Written in the contract. </p><p>“John, just a few more minutes and it’ll be over.”</p><p>As Paul and George worked on calming down John, Ringo decided to answer the question. “We’re not really sure what the future holds for us. A lot is changing now, and I think that even our relationships are much different than they were in the beginning.”</p><p>John whined, and George looked up at the drummer. </p><p>“You know, at first it was all just fun and games, now it feels a lot more like a job.”</p><p>“Oh, god,” John said, sobbing into his hands again. “God, I need to leave, Paul.”</p><p>“You can’t—“ Paul looked over at Brian, who held up four fingers. “Almost over, love.”</p><p>The host of the show saw that John really wasn’t doing great. He smiled at Ringo, although he hadn’t even been listening to what the man said. </p><p>“Well, I think that just about wraps it up. I’ll let the four of you get back to your lives, your wives…” He smiled at each of them, and then the cameras went down. </p><p>“We’re off!” One of the camera men shouted, and John immediately ran off stage. None of them followed, knowing he would be much too fragile to deal with right now. </p><p>“Thanks for having us,” Paul said, and the host looked to where John had run off. </p><p>“Is he alright?”</p><p>“I’m not sure,” Paul replies nervously just in time for Brian to walk out to them. </p><p>“What’s wrong with him?” Brian asked. “I’ve never seen him upset like that.”</p><p>“I’ve never seen him cry,” Paul admitted, getting up. “It’s been lovely. I’m just gonna go check on him really quick.” The bassist ran after the way John left and asked the nearest person where he went. </p><p>“He ran to the janitor’s closet down the hall and to the left.”</p><p>“Thanks so much!” Paul jogged down the hall and swung the door open, scaring John, who was standing in the corner. When the door slammed back, it became completely dark, but Paul could hear him sniffling. </p><p>“Why are you here?”</p><p>“Johnny, I’m worried about you. What’s going on?”</p><p>“It’s nothing. Nothing’s going on. I was just… I’m sick.”</p><p>Paul smirked. “Right. Well, I know for a fact that that’s definitely not true, so don’t try to just pull that trick on me.”</p><p>“I don’t want to talk about it. Just leave me alone?”</p><p>“John Lennon, I’ve seen you beat up and teased and— I mean, for God’s sake, I saw you at your own mother’s funeral, and I have never once seen you cry.”</p><p>Another sniffle. “Macca, I’m fine—“</p><p>“No, you’re not. Just tell me what’s going on. You know I won’t judge you for whatever it is.” He was only getting more pushy and making John angrier. </p><p>“Paul, just leave me alone. I really don’t want to—“</p><p>“You’ve been acting weird all week!”</p><p>“Of course I’ve been acting weird!” he shouted at him, and Paul stayed quiet until John continued on. “Cynthia wants a divorce.”</p><p>“Oh, God. John, I’m sorry…”</p><p>“It’s bloody fine,” he managed, his throat closing up. “It’s just… what about Julian? I mean, everything’s just changing, and I want it to go back to the way it was.”</p><p>“John, love, things change—“</p><p>“Well, that’s stupid!” A heavy silence filled the air. “I miss you,” John whispered. </p><p>“Oh, love, I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”</p><p>“You already have. Now you’re with Linda, and you two are so happy together.” He sniffled again. “I miss when we were always together writing songs, and now no matter how close you really are, if just feels so far away.”</p><p>“John… I’m here right now with you.”</p><p>“But after this, you’re gonna go back home to your family, and I’m gonna go back to my wife that wants to leave me and my son that probably thinks I’m just… I don’t even know. God, he’s gonna hate me.”</p><p>“Of course he won’t!” Paul defended. “John, he loves you. You’re his father!”</p><p>“What about my father, then? My parents didn’t get along and I hated my father for it!”</p><p>“He was a bad father, John! He left you! You’re not leaving Julian. You’re still gonna be in his life.” Paul got up close to John and hugged him. “John, you’re a great father, and there’s no way he could possibly hate you for this.”</p><p>“No, no, you’re right. I’m sorry. I don’t know what got into me. And the show— fuck, that was live—“</p><p>“John, it’s fine.”</p><p>“Brian’s gonna kill me,” he mumbled, sniffling again. </p><p>“John, really, it’s okay. He’s worried about you, too…”</p><p>“Am I gonna have to tell him all this, too?” He shook his head. “I don’t want to. I don’t think I can.”</p><p>“No, of course not.” Then Paul got up real close to him and hugged him. “Just for the record, though, I haven’t gone anywhere. You’re still my best mate, Johnny. You know you always will be.”</p><p>Paul couldn’t tell if he was smiling then, but when he felt the older man hug him back, he was sure there was one.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>On another note, I finally watched Hamilton, and it was really good :D</p></blockquote></div></div>
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